Ahmed Patel criticises Nitish Kumar, Narendra Modi for Kosi fund episode

Senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel today criticised Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar for returning the Kosi river flood assistance fund and his Gujarat counterpart Narendra Modi for "instigating" the former to do so.

"He (Nitish Kumar) should have thought before returning the fund that this money does not belong to any leader. This is the money given by people of Gujarat to people of Bihar," Patel, political adviser to Congress president Sonia Gandhi said when asked to react on the Nitish-Modi episode.
    
The Nitish Kumar government today returned the relief fund cheque of Rs five crore to Gujarat government, which the later had given to it after the Kosi floods in 2008.

The JD(U) government's move of returning the fund comes after newspapers in Bihar carried advertisements last week about the help given by Gujarat government to Kosi flood victims.
    
"Gujarat chief minister should not have instigated Nitish Kumar by giving advertisements in Bihar," Patel, who was here to attend a Congress function, said.
    
Nitish Kumar had criticised advertisements published by Gujarat government, terming it as "uncivilised" and had said that he would return the unused money.

In a reply to a question on why Congress chief Sonia Gandhi did not reacted to Modi's remark of "Maut Ke Saudagar" regarding Bhopal gas tragedy, Patel said, "party spokespersons have given the reply. Sonia Gandhi was no where in the decision making process during the 1984 episode".